


Bulls & Calves

by siriuslywinchester



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Adoption, Baby Toro Rosso, M/M, Orphans, Torobrosso
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-12 00:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5647456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuslywinchester/pseuds/siriuslywinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan and Dany have been together for some time and they have finally been cleared for adoption.  The two boys they adopt, 5 year old Carlos and 2 year old Max are best friends who have spent their whole lives at the orphanage.</p><p>Dan and Dany just can’t wait to bring them home and let them see what family life is really like.</p><p>(At first this will be my chapters from <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4497306">Fathers & Sons</a> but eventually will become new stuff)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ricciardo-Kvyats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to those who have read this before. I think there is only 5 chapters that will be the same as before with minor changes.

Dan smiled at the man that stood before them. He'd introduced himself as Christian and he'd been quick to send his assistant away when he and Dany had entered the office. There were hand paintings and children's drawings filling the walls of the room and toys scattered about the floor. It wasn't at all as Dan had imagined an orphanage would look like, though all he really had to go on was _Annie_ and _Oliver Twist_.

"Carlos and Max will be down with Louisa in a moment," Christian said, smiling again, "They're both very excited to see you again. Would you like a tea or coffee?"

Both Dan's declined the offer. Dany had never been a big tea drinker and Dan was too nervous. His hands were shaking in his lap and he didn't trust himself not to spill tea everywhere. Dany reached over, gripping Dan's hand in his own and squeezing comfortingly, rubbing his thumb lightly across his boyfriends knuckles.

Christian smiled again, idly straightening some of the documentation on his desk as he waited for his assistant to return with the children. He always enjoyed days when children were re-homed, and between the fun loving Daniel and the big earning, banker Daniil, he could see that Carlos and Max were going to a great family.

"But teddy can come too?" a child's voice broke in as the door opened, "They adopted teddy, yes?"

"Yes, Max," Louisa, the assistant replied, "Teddy has been adopted, too. And Carlos."

Dan grinned at Dany as Max and Carlos emerged into the room, rucksacks on their backs as they clutched each others hands and followed the assistant to Christian's desk.

They had spent plenty of time with the two young boys over the past months, visiting them at the orphanage's play room and taking them on day trips under supervision of orphanage staff. Max, the youngest at just two years old, had fluffy mousey hair and a big pout, constantly clutching his teddy bear wherever he went. Carlos, slightly older at five, had thick dark hair and adorable big brown eyes, an innocent look like butter wouldn't melt.

"Hi dudes," Dan said, grinning, "How are you doing?"

Max shrugged, his pout firmly in place as he deposited teddy on the ground beside him, dropped his rucksack from his shoulders and began rolling a toy car around the room. Carlos smiled politely, fluttering his eyelashes with embarrassment.

 

"Fine, thank you, Dan," he said, "Are we going to stay with you forever now?"

Dan grinned at Dany, their hands still firmly gripped together. He was going to be a father. They were _both_ going to be fathers. These two adorable young boys would be theirs once they'd signed some final papers.

"We have some boring grown up paper work to fill in," Christian said, "But then, yes. You can go home with Daniel and Daniil."

Carlos beamed. All he'd ever called home before were the four walls that surrounded the orphanage. There had been plenty of families that had come to visit him or take him out for the day, but none of them had ever chosen him before. And he was going to his home with Max too. Max was his best friend and now he got to be his brother as well, he couldn't imagine a better day than today.

Dan slid from his chair, kneeling down beside the two children and picking up a car to join in their game. Dany remained seated, leaning forward to talk to Christian and start getting the paperwork signed and approved.

"Shall we play one last race here?" Dan asked, lining the cars up at an imaginary start line, "First to go round the desk three times and back to teddy gets the big bedroom."

Both boys grinned excitedly, Max pushing himself up so he was free to run when Dan shouted 'go'. Dan didn't tell them that both of their bedrooms could be the same size if they chose it, but he was happy to see Max excited - the youngest boy was often quite sulky and took a lot of persuading to put his stuffed toy down and join in with the games.

"Go!" Dan shouted, allowing the two boys to race ahead of him before following them around the desk.

Dany smiled, his heart warming as he watched Dan playing with the two boys that would soon be their own. He had taken a lot of persuading when Dan had first suggested adoption. He had worried that he'd end up looking after three children, with Dan and his excitability, but Dan had proved to be great with kids at their first meeting and since the two boys weren't babies, he didn't have to worry about sleepless nights and nappy changes.

He looked back at Christian, the pen poised in his hand ready to sign the agreements. Dan had to sign too, but there was not reason that Dany couldn't start without him. He clicked the end of the pen, exposing the nib and placing ink to paper, writing his name and signing and dating beside it. He was officially a parent.

"I win! I Win!" Max shouted, grabbing his teddy bear from the ground and hugging it to his chest.

Carlos looked up at Dan, a smile on his face that told Dany he'd deliberately allowed Max to win. He couldn't help but grin, glad that the two boys had such a lovely bond even before they'd become adopted brothers.

"Can we go home now?" Carlos asked quietly, picking up Max's rucksack and helping the younger boy to put it on his back.

"Soon," Dany replied, holding the pen out to his boyfriend, "Dan just needs to sign and then we're ready."

Dan took the pen from Dany's hand, leaning over the desk and writing his name and signing beside it. He placed the pen on top of the page and turned the paper around, pushing it towards Christian.

"Congratulations," Christian said, straightening the papers again and filing them into a folder marked 'The Ricciardo-Kvyat's', "I'm please to say you're free to go."

Tears filled Dan's eyes as he grinned at Dany, the pair of them gripping each others hands tightly as they bent down to talk to their newly adopted sons. He thought that once the paper work was done he would feel less nervous, but his heart was pounding as he realised the responsibility they now had.

Dan worked from home - a columnist for a local magazine, meaning he could write when he wished and had no deadlines - he'd be the one who looked after the kids when Dany was working hard hours at the bank. His boyfriend had taken a few weeks off work whilst the boys settled into their new life, and by the time he returned to the bank, Carlos and Max would be starting school.

"You both definitely want to come with us?" Dan asked, wiping a tear from his face, "To live with us. As a family."

Carlos grinned again, wrapping his arms around Dan's neck and jumping up and down with excitement. Max clutched his teddy, cautiously glancing up at Dany who stroked his fingers through Dan's hair. Max wondered why Dan was crying. He was excited to go home, but he thought Dan was supposed to be the fun one, he didn't want Dan to cry. 

"Why you cwy?" he whispered, placing his arms on Dan's leg and holding teddy out to his adopted father, "Teddy make it better?"

Dan laughed, tears falling harder as he took Teddy from Max and hugged him to his chest, pulling both the boys in with his other arm and breathing in the scent of their hair. He loved the smell and he was looking forward to nights where he would cuddle up with the boys on the sofa to watch films and fall asleep with them in his arms. 

Carlos grinned up at Dany from the confines of Dan's cuddle, reaching his hand up for Dany to take, his small hand becoming enveloped in Dany's long fingers. Dany was stricter than Dan and he had a posh job. Carlos wasn't sure if Dany would want a hug like Dan did, so he just held his hand, waiting for Max and Dan. Max had always been a little bit scared of Dany but Carlos knew that he'd come round eventually.

"Daddy Dany, are you driving today?" Carlos said, wiggling impatiently and not noticing the startled look the Russian gave at his new name, "Your car is better than Daddy Dan's."

Dan pulled away from his cuddle with Max, mock shock on his face as he turned to Carlos.

"Cheeky monkey," he cried chasing towards Carlos who ran squealing from the room as Dan tried to tickle him.

Christian laughed, Louisa smiling happily with tears in her eyes as Dany took Max's hand and guided him from the room.

"Wave goodbye," Dany said as they walked through the door towards the car park.

Max turned around, his rucksack preventing him from seeing behind him as he waved. He wished that Dan was holding his hand. Dan would say something funny so he didn't feel sad to leave the orphanage. He clutched teddy to his chest. He smelled a little bit like Dan now and that made him smile. Teddy would look after him. Teddy would tell Dan he didn't like the dark and let him sleep with the light on like Louisa did. He hoped that Dany wouldn't be angry that he was scared of the dark.

When Dany and Max reached the car, Carlos was already buckled into the back seat, sucking a lollipop that Dan had given him. Dany lifted Max into the car, pulling his rucksack from his back as he placed him on the booster seat. Dan was sat in the passenger seat in front of Max and he turned around, unwrapping another lolly and handing it to the youngest boy as Dany strapped him in.

"They'll rot your teeth," Dany said, closing the car door and walking around to the driver’s seat.

Max looked at the lolly in his hand as Dan turned back to face forwards. Lots of the people that came to visit him in the orphanage would bring sweeties and lollies with them. Had they all wanted his teeth to rot? Was that why he'd never been adopted before? Because his teeth were rotting.

He reached forward and tapped Dan lightly on the shoulder, jumping as the car engine roared to life and Dany pulled out of the car park. Dan didn't feel Max's touch and leaned forward to find a radio station that was playing something more interesting than the local news.

"Don't want rotty teef," Max said quietly, sticking the lolly to the back of Dan's seat and leaning back to watch the orphanage pass out of view.

"Argh! Watch the upholstery!" Dany cried, noticing the lolly stuck to the back of the chair and pulling it free.

He handed it to Dan, who wrapped it back in it's packaging before continuing to dance to the music. 

"Chill out Dany," Dan laughed, "The cars gonna get a lot messier than that from now on."

Dany was concentrating on the road and didn't reply to Dan's comment. Neither of them noticed Max's eyes fill with tears and his lips curl into a pout as he pulled Teddy into his chest and began to cry quietly.


	2. Forever Home

Dan helped Max out of the car when they arrived at the house. Carlos let himself out, jumping lightly down onto the driveway and gaping up at building in front of them. It was bigger than either of them had imagined, and the street was a quiet little cul-de-sac - a lot more peaceful than the noisy main road they'd been used to at the orphanage.

Max still clung onto Teddy with one hand as Dan carried both of the boys rucksacks towards the door. Carlos took Max's hand and the younger boy gripped it tightly, still shaking with fear, but his tears dried up as he wondered what the house would be like inside.

Dany unlocked the door and bent down, grinning at the boys as they walked up to the door.

"Welcome home," he said, taking Carlos' hand and helping them both up the step into the hallway, "Are you excited?"

Carlos grinned, trying to look in every direction at once and wondering when he'd be allowed to explore. Max still gripped onto his other hand, Teddy clutched right up to his face as he backed towards the wall, afraid that he might get told off again.

"Let's get your shoes off," Dan said, lifting Max from the ground and spinning him around before placing him on the third step on the stairs and untying his laces.

"I can take my own shoes off," Carlos said, quickly toeing his shoes off without untying them and placing them beside Dany's against the wall. Dany couldn't help but smile at how ridiculously tiny they looked next to his own, and he almost caught himself crying when Max placed his tiny little trainers on the other side.

"Now we can tickle your toes!" Dan said, grabbing Carlos around the waist and lifting him off the ground.

The five year old squealed and kicked his feet out, laughing as Dan tried to grab them. Dany reached down to tickle Max, but the youngest boy looked absolutely terrified, his eyes wide as he tried to push himself through the solid wall.

"Are you OK, Maxy?" he asked, bending down and holding out his hand, "Shall we go and pick a bedroom. You won the race, so it's your choice."

Max nodded, sucking one of Teddy's ears as he glanced over at Carlos before cautiously taking Dany's hand and trying to push himself up the first of the stairs.

 

"So which do you want?" Dan asked, pointing at the three spare rooms which were sparsely decorated. He pointed across at the closed door at the front of the house, "That is mine and Dany's room, these two," he pointed at the two middle bedrooms, "Are the two biggest. And the one at the back is tiny."

Max looked down at Teddy and turned him around so he could see the rooms. He walked towards the door that was next to the two Dan's room. There was a bed inside and a lamp next to the pillow. Teddy nodded and Max pointed into the room, a worried look in his eyes, hoping that he was really allowed to choose and he wouldn't get into trouble.

Dan beamed and looked down at Carlos.

"So which one do you want?" he said, already knowing which Carlos would choose. Nobody would choose the tiny bedroom - they hadn't even bothered to put a bed in there, so he hoped Carlos didn't.

"Could I please to have this one," Carlos said, pointing to the room next to the one Max had selected. 

Dan heard Max breathe a sigh of relief and realised that the young boy had probably picked the middle room so that he was close to everybody, right in-between his new parents and his older brother.

Dany followed Max into the room, his rucksack looped over a long finger.

"Shall we unpack?" he said, kneeling down and unzipping the bag.

It was mostly filled with clothing, a few toys lining the bottom. Max sat, leaning against the edge of the bed as Dany pulled out the clothes and tucked them into the chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room. He really wanted to pick up his train and play, but he didn't want Dany to be cross again - he was supposed to be helping unpack, but he wasn't tall enough to reach the drawers.

"Do you like your room then?" Dany asked, trying to get the youngest boy to come out of his shell a little.

Max nodded, Teddy sat on his lap as Dany folded the last of the clothing and placed it in the drawer.

"Shall we put Teddy to bed and go get a drink?" Dany said again, kneeling beside Max.

Max looked at his bear. He wanted to say no, but he didn't want Dany to be cross with him. Not when Carlos was in the other room unpacking with Dan. He wished Dan had helped him unpack, even if he had tried to tickle his toes. He nodded, kissing Teddy on the top of his head before handing him over to Dany and trying not to cry. At least if Teddy was in bed, Teddy couldn't get into trouble.

Dany took Teddy and lifted Max up to sit on top of the bed while he tucked the bear under the duvet.

"Give him a goodnight kiss," Dany said, waiting for Max to crawl up the bed and kiss Teddy again, sitting obediently and looking up at his new parent to see what he was supposed to do next, "Right, do you like milk?"

Max nodded again as Dany picked him up and carried him out of the room, waving over Dany's shoulder as Teddy went out of view.

 

Carlos' bag was unpacked and Dan grinned at him.

"Like the room then, mate?" he asked, watching Carlos open some of the cupboards they'd not used to see what was inside.

Carlos closed the door quickly, spinning around with an innocent look in his eyes.

"It's very nice, thank you, Daddy Dan" Carlos said, smiling.

"OK, let's go find Max," Dan said, taking Carlos' hand, "Christian said Max goes to bed at six and you at seven, right?"

Carlos was tempted to lie and say that he was normally allowed to stay up later, but he knew that Christian might visit and if Dan told him then he might get into trouble and then he might get sent back to the orphanage, so he nodded.

They walked into Max's room to find it already empty, everything neatly packed away and Teddy tucked into bed. Carlos let go on Dan's hand and ran to get Teddy. He knew that Max _never_ let go of Teddy - he must have been too scared to tell Dany that.

 

Downstairs, Max was sat cross legged on the floor, a sippy cup held above his head as he drank from it. He stopped drinking as Carlos and Dan walked in, dropping the cup and racing to get Teddy and cuddle him to his chest.

Dan righted the sippy cup, placing it on the bottom ledge by the fireplace as Dany came through with a tumbler of orange juice for Carlos.

Carlos held it carefully between both hands, placing it on a mat beside Max's milk and keeping one eye on it, hoping that he didn't spill it.

"Well I think we've had a lot of excitement for one day," Dany said, slumping down onto the sofa, "Shall we all have an early night after our drinks and then we can show you what is outside tomorrow morning?"

Max nodded, rubbing his eyes with the hand that wasn't gripping tightly to Teddy. Carlos jumped up, excited - Dan had told him what was waiting for them outside and it sounded _so much_ fun.

"Oh no!" Dany suddenly shouted, jumping up and rushing over to grab Max up from the floor.

Carlos looked at the space where Max had been and saw that his glass had fallen over in his excitement and spilled orange juice on the clean carpet. His eyes filled with tears as Dany placed Max at the opposite side of the room and raced into the kitchen shouting about not touching anything. They could hear him banging cupboard doors as he tried to find cleaning products to mop up the spillage.

"I'm sorry," Carlos said quietly, standing and looking at Dan, tears falling down his cheeks, "I didn't mean to. I won't do it again, please don't take me back."

Dan almost cried, the small, adorable boy so upset over something so silly. Max was creeping backwards, tucking himself behind the wall and the sofa, hoping he would be hidden when Dany came back in and he wouldn't get the blame.

"Don't worry, Carlos," Dan said, dropping to his knees beside the five year old and wrapping his arms around him, "It's OK. Why would we ever take you back, silly."

Carlos was crying loudly now, shaking and almost choking on his breath.

"Look, it doesn't matter, it's an old carpet anyway," Dan said, grabbing his tea cup from the coffee table and up-ending it over the carpet, "See, it doesn't matter."

Carlos watched with wide eyes as the tea spread across the lounge and soaked into the carpet. Dany walked back in and stared at his boyfriend, sat in the middle of the lounge between two patches of spilled drinks. He raised his eyebrows and Dan nudged his head towards Carlos who was still very tearful.

Dany gave them both a sympathetic look, walking past Max without realising he was hidden right behind the sofa now, and began to use the kitchen roll to soak up the drinks.

"I think it's time for bed," Dan said, wiping Carlos' nose with his sleeve and taking his hand, "Where's Max?"

He looked around the room. The youngest boy was nowhere to be seen. Carlos pointed towards the sofa and Dan, still on his hands and knees crawled around to find that Max had wedged himself as far between the wall and sofa as he could, sucking his thumb with sleepy eyes.

"He's scared of Dany," Carlos whispered into Dan's ear, though not so quietly that Dany didn't hear it, "He's hiding."

"Scared of that muppet," Dan grinned, reaching a hand behind the sofa and rubbing Max's tiny fingers as the two year old took it and began to struggle out of his hiding place, "Dany's like a little rabbit. All fluffy and cute and wouldn't hurt a fly. Or a little boy, either."

"Why is called Dan E?" Max said, his eyes almost drooping closed as Dan picked him up, ready to carry him to bed, "Why you no have letter, too?"

Dan laughed, wondering if Max thought the E stood for 'Evil' and that was why he was so scared. He kissed the little boys forehead as Carlos followed him up the stairs, leaving Dany to mop up the mess they'd made.

"It's Dany, all one word, no letter," Dan explained, watching Carlos to make sure he didn't fall, "It's how you tell us apart, otherwise we'd both just be Dan, wouldn't we?"

Max nodded, though his face showed that he didn't really understand what Dan had just said. He wasn't really sure how to explain it any other way - nobody have ever asked before.

 

It was almost midnight when Dan headed to bed. Dany was already asleep, snoring loudly as he climbed the stairs and peaked into Carlos room. The five year old was fast asleep, a smile on his face as he clutched the duvet underneath his chin.

He closed the door quietly and tiptoed to Max's room, surprised to find the light by the bedside had been turned on and Max was sat up, leaning against the headboard and crying onto Teddy's head.

"Maxy," Dan said, rushing over and wrapping the small boy in his arms, "What's wrong?"

"Dark and quiet and scawy," Max sobbed, hiccuping loudly in Dan's ear.

"Would you like to come and sleep in our bed?" Dan said, "With me and Dany?"

Max nodded, tears dripping from his chin.

Dan scooped him up, turning out the bedside lamp and carrying him into the master bedroom. Dany had left Dan's beside lamp on and by the time he'd walked around the bed and placed the two year old next to Dany to sleep between them, Max was asleep, Teddy clutched in his arm and his thumb between his lips.


	3. Garden Toys

When Max awoke the next morning he was still clutching Teddy to his chest. He rolled onto his back, sleepily rubbing his eyes and trying to remember where he was - this wasn't the orphanage. He jumped as Dany snored loudly by his ear, remembering that he had a forever home now and that Dan had let him sleep in their bed. Dan wasn't in bed with them now though, and Max shuffled onto his side of the bed, hoping that Dany wouldn't wake up and be cross with him. 

Dany was laid on his side, his head at an odd angle as his mouth hung wide open. His snores shook the whole bed and Max almost giggled, stuffing Teddy's ear into his mouth at the last moment to stop himself. Carlos had snored at the orphanage but it wasn't this loud and sometimes he'd talked about ice cream in his sleep - he didn't think Dany would talk about ice cream.

Max crawled back towards Dany slowly, staring into his mouth and jumping again when another snore broke the silence in the bedroom. Dany had _really_ big front teeth. Max remembered what Dan had said the night before _'Dany's like a rabbit...'_. Dan was right - maybe Dany _was_ a rabbit.

The bedroom door opened and jolted Max from his thoughts. His eyes lit up as Carlos and Dan entered the room, each holding a tray with orange juice and a pile of toast.

"Is he still asleep?" Dan asked, grinning at Max as he placed the tray on the bedside table and lifted Carlos onto the bed. 

The two young boys snuggled into the middle of the duvet as Dan climbed in after them, leaning over them both and kissing Dany on the nose. The Russian smiled, reaching an arm over and cuddling Max into his chest, kissing him on the forehead in his sleep, not realising it wasn't Dan that he had hold of.

Max turned to face Carlos and Dan, wide eyed as he was gripped in Dany's arm. Carlos had stuffed his fist into his mouth trying not to giggle loudly and Dan had a huge grin on his face, but put a finger to his lips and winked at the toddler.

"Are you cheating on me, Daniil Kvyat?" he said in a faux-offended voice.

Dany's eyes snapped open and he looked up at Dan before turning his eyes down to see that he had his arms wrapped around little Max. He jumped backwards, his face a mask of shock as he let go of the toddler and fell with a loud thud from the bed onto the floor below.

Carlos couldn't contain himself, laughing out loud in a high pitched giggle. Even Dan was crying with laughter. Max's face split into a nervous grin as he glanced at Dan, before crawling to the edge of the bed and looking over at Dany sprawled half naked on the floor rubbing his head. He grinned up at the child and Max finally laughed, making Dan's heart soar.

"Morning Maxy," Dany said, pushing himself up into a seated position and sniffing the air, "Can I smell toast?"

 

After breakfast in bed, Carlos dressed himself in his favourite outfit and helped Dan pick out some clothes for Max. Dany laughed when Max appeared in the kitchen wearing a pair of bright yellow corduroy trousers that were two inches too long and and a thick green fleece.

"Dan, it's August, not mid-winter," he said, scooping Max into his arms to take him back upstair and change him into something more suitable for the warm summers day that was blooming outside, "I think we might have to buy you two some news clothes!"

When the boys were finally dressed appropriately and both a pale white from the amount of sun cream Dan insisted they wore, they were made to shut their eyes and take their adoptive parents hands as they were guided outside.

Dan and Dany positioned the two boys at the center of the garden, pretending they hadn't noticed that Max was peeping - his jaw already dropped and his eyes filled with excitement.

"Aaaand, open them," Dan said, a huge grin on his face as Carlos opened his eyes and the two boys squealed and hugged each other.

Before them was a garden like they'd never imagined. There was a huge climbing frame that took up the full width of the grass, with slides and monkey bars and even a little tree-house at the top. Beneath the frame was a sand pit with diggers and buckets and spades and beside that a paddling pool, filling with floats and rubber ducks.

Carlos raced for the climbing frame, Dan following him and holding his arms out in case the five year old fell. He climbed up as high as he could, peaking his head in the tree-house and discovering it already had drinks and biscuits on the table. He shuffled over to the slide and slid down on his bottom, quickly getting to his feet and running to hug Dan's legs.

"Thank you Daddy Dan," he said, clutching his arms around Dan's knees, "This is the bestest ever."

Max stared open mouthed. He watched his brother climb up and slide down, but his own feet stayed rooted to the spot. His eyes were as wide as saucers and Dany began to wonder if he stared like that at everything.

"Do you want to play in the sand pit?" Dany asked, holding out his hand.

Max shook his head, shuffling away from Dany, his eyes not moving from the climbing frame before him.

"Teddy get dirty," Max said, still sidestepping away and stumbling as the path ended and turned into a flower bed.

He landed on his bottom, his hands sinking into the warm earth as Teddy fell to the ground before him. 

Dany was about to rush over and make sure he was OK, but Max stood up quickly, brushing his hands clean and picking Teddy up, turning him around and making sure he was OK before cuddling him and swinging his whole body in both directions.

Dany smiled, if he'd have known Max would just want to spend his time with his teddy, he'd probably not have spent half the amount of money on toys as they had. The new parents hadn't shown the boys the play room yet, keeping the door locked until it was a rainy day and they'd need some indoor entertainment.

He watched as Max glanced back at the mud, a confused expression on his face as he bent forward and examined something. Max took a few small steps forward and bent down again, repeating this until he reached the fence between their garden and their next door neighbours.

Dany wandered over, not wanting to startle Max who apparently was still a little scared of him. There were footprints in the mud - Dany wasn't sure how they'd got there, but they were adult prints so it was probably one of the men who'd delivered the frame - Max had followed them right up to a tiny hole in the fence.

The toddler was peeping through, his eyes widened again as his mouth turn into a tiny 'O'.

"More boys," he said, turning to Dany and pointing his tiny index finger through the hole.

Dany craned his neck, glancing over the fence and noticing the three boys that lived next door were out in the garden playing together. Their fathers, Felipe and Rob were sat in the shade drinking and reading magazines. When he looked back down at Max, the little boy was avidly watching through the hole, his Teddy dangling limply in his hand.

Dany looked back at the climbing frame. Carlos was in the tree house and Dan was wedged in the door, too large to fit through, but happily nibbling on a biscuit that the five year old was feeding him.

"Do you want to go on the slide, Max?" Dany said, trying to get Max to pay at least _some_ interest in the expensive toy, instead of spying on their neighbours.

Max shook his head, his eye not moving from hole, following the boys in the next garden as they raced around their lawn.

"I think Teddy wants to go on the slide," Dany said, pointing at the bear.

Max turned to face Dany, his face looking concerned as he glanced down at Teddy who really did look quite sad hanging there by his leg.

Max nodded, glancing sadly back at the peephole before holding out his hand for Dany to take him to the slide. Dany lifted him out of the flowerbed and placed him at the top of the slide. The toddler placed Teddy on his lap and gripped tightly to the edges, his knuckles going white as he cautiously looked over the side at how high he was. 

"Teddy go down first?" Dany said, moving to the bottom of the slide and ducking down.

Max gulped, nodding as he gently pushed Teddy from his knee and watched his favourite toy tumble down the slide and shoot from the end, skidding across the grass and stopping in a heap at the end of the lawn. Dany laughed, bouncing on his heels.

"Now your turn," Dany grinned, looking up at the toddler and moving in front of the bottom of the slide, his arms out.

Max shook his head, still gripping to the side as tears began to fill his eyes. The two year old began to panic. He was high up and he didn't want to tumble like Teddy did.

"I'll catch you," Dany said, waggling his fingers encouragingly, "I Promise."

Max gulped as he looked down. It looked a long way. He didn't want to cry again, but it was scary. Carlos had said it would be fun to have a family and he wanted to have fun, not cry and be scared. He wanted to be a big and brave like Carlos.

He shuffled on his bottom, fingers still holding tightly onto the sides of the slide as he kept his eyes on Dany, hoping that he would keep his promise. Max slowly slid from the top of the slide and whizzed down, screaming loudly and closing his eyes.

Dany caught him.

Max opened his eyes and stared in shock for a few moments as Dany lifted him in the air and swung him around. Then his face split into a huge grin and he clapped and laughed. Dany grinned back at him and Max wrapped his arms around his adopted father's neck, happy that he caught him - maybe he wasn't so mean all the time.

"Again!" Max shouted, waving his arms towards the slide, Teddy forgotten on the grass, "Again!"


	4. Shopping Trip

The children had no clean clothes in the house. Dan and Dany hadn't realised just how quickly childrens clothing got dirty, and having spent most of the past week playing in the back garden, the few pieces they had bought with them from the orphanage were covered in grass stains and mud.

"I think we need to go shopping," Dan announced, rubbing a mark on a pair of Max's jeans and hoping it didn't look _too_ mucky when he was wearing them, "And we need to buy Carlos' school uniform."

"I can't believe they'll both be at school next week," Dany said sadly, "And I have to go back to work."

He unfolded the push chair. It was their first trip out as a family, having spent most of the time so far exploring the house and getting to know what the children did and didn't like. Carlos was currently eating breakfast in the tree house - his new favourite place - and Max was sucking a piece of toast whilst peering through the peep hole in the fence in just his underwear. The Massa-Smedley children were probably still in bed, but Max seemed to like looking through the hole regardless.

"Come on, Kids," Dany called, "We're going out!"

Carlos was first to reach the kitchen, sliding down the slide and racing into the room. Max waddled in shortly after and Dan scooped him up and pulled his trousers on, placing him (and Teddy) in the push chair and lowering the plastic barrier over him.

Dany unlocked the front door, helping Carlos down the step and Dan carried the push chair onto the driveway. The new parents told Carlos to hold onto the side of the chair and Dan started down the path while Dany locked up.

Max spun in the chair, pushing himself onto his knees and grabbing Dan's hands with his fingers.

"Stop," he said, clawing at Dan's fingers as his bottom lip pouted out, "Dan E push."

Dan let Max pull his fingers from the handle of the push chair and waited for Dany to catch up.

"Dan E push," Max repeated, pointing as the other man caught up with them.

"Why not me?" Dan asked, sadly.

He'd been looking forward to taking the push chair out. He had visions of himself running up and down the streets, Max and Carlos both sat in the chair laughing as he pretended to be a car.

"Dan E," Max whined, his eyes starting to fill with tears.

Dany took the chair, smiling at Max and Dan began walking beside them looking slightly put out. Max was supposed to be scared of Dany, why were they suddenly best friends?

Dan felt some small fingers wrap around his own, pulling him from his thoughts. He glanced down and saw that Carlos had let go of the push chair and was grinning up at him, holding tightly to his fingers as they walked along.

"You can hold my hand, Daddy Dan," he said, his eyes glittering with happiness, "When I go to school do I have to wear a tie like Daddy Dany does?"

"Nah mate," Dan replied, thankful he didn't have to teach the five year old to tie a tie, "Just a t-shirt and jumper. You'll still look as smart as Dany though."

Dan ruffled the boys fluffy brown hair and swung his arm, Carlos giggling on the end of it. The boy lifted his feet off the air and Dan felt like his shoulder pulled out of the socket, but he swung him anyway, delighting in the high pitched giggles he was rewarded with.

He glanced across at Max and was surprised to find that the youngest boy was fast asleep. Teddy was snuggled into his chest - as always - and he was sucking at him thumb. The toddler looked remarkably peaceful, and despite still feeling slightly jealous, he was glad that Max had warmed to his partner.

"You know we're going to have to stop him from sleeping in our bed at some point," Dany said, noticing Dan's glance.

Max had been sleeping in their room each night. The toddler would be awake crying right up until Dan went to bed if he wasn't allowed to sleep in their bed. They'd tried to ask him what was wrong, but as soon as he was tucked into their bed he'd be out like a light.

"How?" Dan replied, "He just doesn't like being in his room alone."

"Max is scared of the dark," Carlos said quietly, still clinging to Dan's fingers, "Doesn't like the monsters. I don't mind the monsters though. They don't hurt me."

Dany slapped his forehead, realising that this was completely obvious.

"How did we not figure that out?" he said, "We'll buy him a night light. In fact," Dany pointed over to the Argos store that was just down the street, "I'll go there, you go to the Uniform shop and we'll meet up later."

Dan and Carlos continued down the road, hand in hand to the shop which sold school uniforms all of the schools in the local area. As they entered the shop, a little bell rang and an old man rushed over to greet them, smiling down at Carlos and speaking directly to the five year old.

"Morning Little Sir, and what school will you be going to?" he asked, grinning as he held out a tape measure to check Carlos' height and width.

Carlos' eyes widened and he shrugged, looking up at Dan, who realised he hadn't actually told the child which school he'd be attending. The orphans had been schooled at the orphanage, this would be Carlos' first time at a public school.

"William Bulls Primary," Dan said, "We need full uniform, a book bag and PE kit, please."

"Excellent choice, excellent choice," the old man said, holding out his hand for Carlos, "Well if you follow me little Sir, we'll get you all decked out."

Dan nodded for Carlos to go with the old man and waited in a chair as he disappeared into a changing room to try on his new school uniform.

A few minutes later, Carlos reappeared, beaming from ear to ear. He was dressed in neatly pressed black trousers, a pair of shining black shoes, a white polo shirt and a bottle green jumper with the school’s logo on the breast.

"Can I wear it now," Carlos asked, running up to Dan and places his hands on his adopted father's knees.

Dan laughed, imagining how, in a few years time, he'd be wrestling with the kid to get him to wear the uniform.

"I think we should save it for school, don't you?" he said, "Anyway you need to try on your PE kit."

Carlos turned around and disappeared back into the changing room, the old man following with a green sports vest, some blue shorts and a pair of trainers. The five year old soon reappeared, not looking quite as excited this time, but trying to look at himself in the mirror.

"Very sporty," Dan said, "Do you like them?"

Carlos nodded, smiling politely at Dan.

"Am I allowed them?" he asked quietly.

"Of course!" Dan grinned, "You need them for school. Go get changed again and we'll buy them and then go shopping for some other clothes, yea?"

Carlos grinned again, rushing into the changing room and returning with the clothes folded neatly and placed on top of his arms. He followed the old man to the till and before long were bagged and heading back out onto the busy shopping street.

"Right," Dan looked into his wallet, "Dany gave me fifty pounds to spend on clothes for you and Max so lets go to Matalan and see how much we can buy."

Carlos grinned, imagining all the sweeties he could buy for fifty pound. He wondered if Dan would let him buy _some_ sweeties at least. It would be nice if he did.

The Matalan store was huge and Dan decided it would be easier to get a trolley than a basket, so Carlos soon found himself standing inside the metal container being pushed around by Dan - who, having been denied his fun by Max, decided this was just as good.

"Right, point out things that you think you and Max will like," Dan said, heading down the kids aisle.

Carlos pointed at a pink, frilly tutu.

"Max will like that," Carlos said, "There was one at the orphalidge and he always cried when Christian made him take it off."

Dan grinned. He could see Max wearing the pink tutu and was very tempted to buy it, but he could also imagine the look of horror on Dany's face so he decided against it.

"What about these?" Dan said, pointing at some t-shirt and jean sets with various disney characters on.

"LIGHTNING MCQUEEN!" Carlos shouted, almost jumping out of the trolley.

The five year old reach forward and plucked at a t-shirt. It was red with a picture of a car on the front. Dan pulled out an age five and an age two version and placed them in the trolley.

"And Max likes Frozen," Carlos said, pointing out an Olaf onesie, "I prefer toy story though."

Dan added a toddlers Olaf onesie and a larger Buzz Lightyear onesie to the trolley before guiding it over to an area that had mix and match sets. He rummaged through the pile, calculating that he could buy ten t-shirt and five pairs of trousers for each child with the leftover cash and added them to the trolley.

"I think that's everything," Dan said, glancing down at Carlos, "That's all the money gone, anyway! What do you think?"

Carlos nodded Dan noticed that he looked sad.

"What's up little fella?" he asked.

"Nothing," Carlos said, forcing a smile, "Thank you, Daddy Dan."

Dan pushed the trolley up to the checkout and handed the assistant the goods. He could tell that Carlos was lying, but what could he possibly be sad about? He hadn't asked for anything that he wasn't allowed.

"Are you sure?" Dan pressed, "You look sad."

Dan pouted to demonstrate how sad Carlos looked, but was interrupted both by his phone ringing and the cashier asking for the money. He handed the cash over whilst answering the call.

"Hey Dany," he said, "You got one? Great. We're in Matalan. Sure, we can meet there. Is Max still asleep? Bless him. See you in a bit."

Dan smiled as he put his phone back in his pocket, taking the carrier bag from the cashier and lifting Carlos out of the trolley. He carried the five year old out of the shop before turning down the street.

"How do you fancy a McDonalds for dinner?" Dan asked, watching as Carlos' trademark grin began to reappear on his face, "And then maybe we'll have just enough pennies for some sweeties for the walk back home."

Carlos face lit up with excitement. McDonalds _and_ sweeties? This was the best day ever.


	5. Max & Carlos’ First Day At School

Dan and Dany had underestimated just how busy it would be on a school morning. Trying to get two young boys ready for school, whilst Dany prepared himself for work was a big shock to them. Luckily Carlos was so excited about his school uniform that he'd donned it and managed to help Max into his clothing before Dan had finished making breakfast, but it still felt like there had been a lot of running around and getting under one another's feet.

Dany drove them all to the school gates, parking outside and helping the two boys out, ready to take them into their classes. Dan would take Max to the nursery and Dany would take Carlos to his class in the infant school. Dany was hoping it wouldn't take too long as he had to be at the bank for nine o'clock and it was already getting on for half past eight.

"Say Goodbye to Max," Dany said to Carlos as they walked down the path towards the classrooms, "You'll see him later."

Carlos waved a quick goodbye before excitedly pulling on Dany's arm to get to the classroom. Dany glanced back and Max was walking alongside Dan, looking over his shoulder with a sad pout, Teddy hanging limply from his arm.

"And who do we have here?" a bearded teacher asked as Carlos entered the room and gazed around at the other children who were all chatting with one another.

"This is Carlos," Dany said.

Carlos looked up at the teacher, a big grin on his face as he smoothed his jumper down. The teacher bent down in front of him.

"Do you like my new uniform?" Carlos asked, beaming down at the bottle green jumper.

"You look very smart, Carlos," the man replied, holding out his hand, "I'm your new teacher, Mr Alonso. Why don't you go and find a seat and I'll come over for a chat in a moment."

Carlos waved quickly at Dany before finding an empty chair and sitting in it, grinning around at the children he had joined, who all stopped their conversations to stare at him.

"It's his first day at school," Dany explained to the teacher, "Me and my partner adopted him a couple of weeks ago. He was schooled at the orphanage before that. It will be my partner, Dan who picks him up tonight, along with our other son Max who is in nursery."

"That's fine," Mr Alonso said, "I look forward to meeting them both, too. If there is any problems I will give you a call, but I'm sure he'll settle in fine. They're a lovely bunch of kids."

Dany smiled at the teacher and walked towards the door, waving again at Carlos as he left. The five year old was already happily chatting with a girl that was sat beside him - Dany wondered how long it would be before he had to worry about Carlos and girls. 

"So class," Mr Alonso said, walking over to the front of the room and grinning at the children before him, "Most of you will know from last year, I'm Mr Alonso. I'll be your teacher for this year. We have a new boy joining us today though and I want you all to make him very welcome. Say 'Hello' to Carlos."

The class chorused a 'Hello' in unison and Carlos grinned widely, though his face turned bright red.

"Now Carlos," Mr Alonso continued, "Did you do any maths at your old school?"

Carlos nodded enthusiastically.

"We were doing the two times table," Carlos said, "One two is two, Two two's are four..."

He continued right up until ten two's, not missing a beat. The whole class and their teacher were staring at him in wonder. Most of the other children had absolutely no idea what Carlos had just done, but Mr Alonso beamed proudly, walking across the room to where the child was sat.

"Wow!" he said, ruffling Carlos' hair, "It looks like we have a genius amongst us. We were just learning to add and subtract. Have you done that?"

Carlos nodded, remembering the amount of times he'd run out of fingers when he first learned to add. He could do most of them now though, but sometimes he had to draw lines on a piece of paper to remember where he was up to.

"Right then," Mr Alonso said, clapping his hands together, "Everyone grab their pens and notepads - I'll get you a set, Carlos - and we'll do some simple sums, shall we?"

\-----

Max clung tightly to Dan's hand as they entered the nursery. There were lots of kids running around and making noise and two teachers trying to keep control. Dan was fairly certain that one of the kids that ran past was their next door neighbour but he moved so fast he couldn't be sure.

He felt tiny fingers grip tighter as they walked further into the room and when Dan looked down Max's eyes were wide and he'd clutched Teddy to his chest. He looked terrified.

"Hello! I'm Mr Vergne." 

A young looking teacher walked over, a smile on his face as he shook Dan's hand and then bent down to chat with Max.

"You must be Max," he said, tickling the toddler under the chin, "We've all been looking forward to meeting you."

Max nodded, recognising that the strange man knew his name, but he edged slowly behind one of Dan's legs, gripping onto his jeans and sucking on Teddy's ear.

"Do you want to come and play?" Mr Vergne asked, "We have lots of toys."

Max shook his head, gripping Dan's leg even tighter as Mr Vergne pouted and pretended to cry. Dan reached down and pealed Max's arms from his leg, bending down alongside the teacher and brushing Max's cheek with his thumb.

"I want to play," Dan said, "I want to play with those cars over there."

Dan pointed to a corner of the room where there was a box full of cars and a few mats which had road layouts on them. He stood up and held his hand out to the toddler who took it with a confused expression on his face.

"Will you play with me?" Dan asked, walking slowly to the cars and getting down on his hands and needs to pick one up.

He picked a blue land-rover and rolled it down one of the roads, turning to grin at Max. Max had sat cross-legged beside him, Teddy on his lap as he watched Dan reach over and drive the car back along the road. The toddler was pouting and Dan could tell he was on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong, mate?" Dan said, pulling him onto his lap and kissing the top of his head, "Don't you want to play with all the toys?"

Max cuddled into Dan, tucking himself inside his jacket before looking up with puppy-dog eyes.

"You weave me here?" he asked.

"Only during the daytime," Dan replied, cuddling Max into him "I'll be back later. Mr Vergne will look after you and you can play with all the other boys and girls."

"Where Carlos?" Max asked.

"Carlos is at big school," Dan said, "Where you will be in a few years time."

"You not weave me like at orphalidge?" Max said, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"No! No of course not, Maxy," Dan said, gathering the toddler into a hug and almost crying himself, "Never. You're just here to have fun and make friends and get ready for when you have to be a big boy like Carlos and go to big school."

"Pwomise?" Max said, his hands on Dan's chest as he tried to stand.

"Promise," Dan said, holding out the toy car.

Max took it from his hand and sat on his right thigh, running the car up his left leg so far that Dan couldn't help himself laughing as it tickled. He picked the toddler up and placed him on the car mat, crouching beside him as he started to play.

"Can I go then?" Dan said, "Mr Vergne will look after you and you can make some friends, yea?"

Max nodded, glancing around the classroom at the other boys and girls. He noticed a boy on the opposite side of the classroom and recognised him as one of the others boys that he had seen through the fence. He grinned, pushing himself up to standing and began to waddle over.

Dan watched him walk away, heading towards the nursery door and watching through the window as Max approached the boy that he definitely recognised as their neighbour now. Max had a huge grin on his face and Dan wondered whether he had already met Felix - they hadn't invited their neighbours round but maybe he'd seen them in the garden. The toddler held out the car, giving it to Felix with a grin on his face as he sat beside the boy - he hadn't even noticed Dan had left.

\-----

Dan stood nervously with the other parents outside Carlos' classroom. He felt a little like an imposter - all the mother's seemed to know one another and most of the father's were keeping their distance. Dan was eager to see how Carlos had done though, and was stood right up at the door, waiting for the bell to sound.

RIIIINNGGG.

The bell made Dan jump and he blushed furiously as some of the mother's bit their lips to stop themselves from laughing. He stepped away from the door slightly as it flung open and children began to run out. It seemed like all of the parents had claimed their children before Carlos finally appeared, holding a bearded man's hand and chatting animatedly.

"Ah, you must be Dan," the man said, holding out his hand as Carlos beamed and hugged Dan's stomach, "I'm Mr Alonso, Carlos' teacher. Your partner said you'd be meeting him. Have a nice evening Carlos, see you tomorrow."

"Bye Mr Alonso," Carlos said, taking Dan's hand, "Thank you for teaching me today."

Dan had to stifle a laugh at how enthusiastic and thankful Carlos was. He wondered if he'd still be this happy about school in a few years time - he hoped so, it would be a lot easier.

"So how was your day?" Dan asked as the pair of them set off around the school towards the nursery, "Did you make any friends?"

"It was great," Carlos said, bouncing along with both hands on Dan's, "Mr Alonso said that I'm a genius because I know my two times tables. And at lunch time Mr Alonso had to open my juice box because it was stuck closed. Mr Alonso says we might be going on a school trip soon, but he wouldn't say where. Mr Alonso is the best teacher. I like Mr Alonso."

Carlos barely paused for breath, finally stopping his praise for the teacher as they approached the nursery and caught sight of Max smiling as Mr Vergne wrote something on a piece of paper. The teacher stood, giving Max the piece of paper, as Carlos and Dan entered the room.

"He's done very well," Mr Vergne said grinning at Dan, "He's spent most of the day playing with Felix. We were just drawing a picture while we waited for you to arrive."

Max beamed up at Dan and handed him the drawing. There were five round blobs placed around a wonky square. Two of the blobs were almost the same size as the square, two medium sized and the fifth, attached to one of the medium blobs, was quite small. Underneath, Mr Vergne had written 'My Family - Max Verstappen' and the date.

"This is great," Dan beamed as Carlos pulled at his arm so he could see it, "We can put it on the fridge when we get home."

"Why?" Max said, screwing his face up - why would a picture go on the fridge? It should go on the wall, that's what Mr Vergne said.

"Because all of the _best_ work goes on the fridge, Maxy," Dan said, rolling the picture up and putting it in his pocket, "Now are you ready to go home?"

"Yep," Max said, jumping up and down and waving at his teacher, "Bye Misser Verm."

\-----

When Dany finally arrived home from work, he was exhausted but excited to hear about the kids days at school. It had seemed like a long day, and Dan hadn't contacted him to let him know how anything had gone. Max was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep with Teddy in his arms. He was sucking his thumb peacefully and Dany sat down on the sofa slowly, so as not to wake him.

"Hey Daddy Dany," Carlos said from the floor on the lounge, I'm practising my handwriting for Mr Alonso."

He was kicking his legs up behind him as he wrote his own name over and over again in a handwriting book which had several different coloured lines to signify how large certain letter should be.

"How was school?" Dany asked, as Carlos carefully put the top back on his pen.

"It was great," Carlos said, beaming, "Mr Alonso gave me this pen and this book. He said I have neat handwriting and that practising will make it better, so I'm practising because then tomorrow I can show Mr Alonso that it's better. And Mr Alonso said my uniform is very smart. And this morning in maths I helped a girl with her sums and Mr Alonso was proud and said that one day I could be a teacher like him."

"Wow!" Dany replied, when Carlos had finally stopped talking about his new teacher, "And what about Max, did he have a good day?"

"He drew a picture. Dan stuck it on the fridge."

Dany got to his feet, sliding his arms around Max and picking the toddler up before walking into the kitchen. Dinner smelt good and it made Dany's stomach rumble; in the pandemonium of the morning he'd forgotten to pick up his lunch.

"So what is this picture of?" Dany asked, as he walked over to the fridge and examined the blobs, "What are the blobs? And the square?"

"I think the blobs are supposed to be me, you, Carlos and Max and the square is the house," Dan replied, not looking up from the potato he was mashing.

Max squirmed in Dany's arms, pulling his thumb out of his mouth and scrunching his eyes tighter.

"And what's the grey thing?" Dany asked, leaning in to look at the small grey blob attached to one of the other blobs.

Max rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands, before looking up at Dany.

"Teddy, siwwy," Max said, shaking the bear in front of his face, "Teddy is famery too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of what was previously posted in F&S. From now on it will be new material :) Thank you if you've read this twice and particularly if you've commented on any of the chapters. It's much appreciated.


	6. Nursery School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still keeping the Massa-Smedley's involved in the story so every now and then there will be parts involving them or from their POV, but it is mainly for the sake of the Ricciardo-Kvyats plots, not their own families.

Felix ran ahead of Felipe along the path that led up to the nursery. They'd been back at school a few days now and they'd settled into routine again quickly. 

"Morning Mister Massa," a young girls voice broke through as it's owner ran past him, chasing after Felix.

"Morning Victoria," he called, glancing around and waving to the girls mother.

She was one of his wife's oldest friends and Felipe tried to avoid her as much as possible since their divorce, but as the children attended the same school it was often necessary to act polite.

Felipe turned back to Felix, who had stopped when he'd heard Victoria calling, a look of horror on his face.

"Will you play with _me_ today?" Victoria said, grabbing Felix's hand and dragging him through the nursery door, "You always play with the boys now, but _they're_ icky. You should play with _me_."

Felipe forced himself not to laugh as Felix glanced back at him. He could see the pleading in the small boys eyes as he was dragged away by Victoria and had a doll stuffed into his arms.

"Play nicely," Felipe called, waving and turning away from the door to head home.

As soon as Felipe was gone, Felix scowled at Victoria and threw the doll on the floor.

"Not playing with you," he said, stomping away towards the sand pit where his _boy_ friends were playing.

Victoria pouted as he walked off, but soon regained her composure, picking up the doll he had dropped and placing it on a chair at the tea party she was about to host.

\-----

"Would you like to do some more painting today?" Mr Vergne said, ducking down to Max's height and smiling.

Max nodded. He liked to paint with Mr Vergne. The fridge at home had lots of pictures on now and Dan said that next time they saw Christian, he could let him have one.

"Paint Teddy today," Max said, grinning widely as Mr Vergne placed a sheet of paper before him and tied the apron around his neck.

"OK," said Mr Vergne, "But let's put Teddy out of the way so he doesn't get paint on him, shall we?"

Max pouted, but let the teacher place Teddy on the floor at the bottom of the table. Max didn't want to get paint on Teddy because then he'd have to go in the wash and Teddy always looked sad in the wash.

Mr Vergne drew the general outline of a bear on the paper before passing a water pot, paint brush and paint palette to the toddler. Max immediately rubbed the brush in the brown paint and began to splatter it across the page. The teacher had long ago stopped caring about his neatly drawn outlines being annihilated by toddlers trying to paint and he smiled as Teddy turned into a raging brown smear.

"Shall we give him some eyes?" My Vergne said, picking up another paint brush and dotting two black splodges somewhere at the top of the mess Max had painted, "There, perfect."

Max beamed, paint covering his hands, arms and face.

"We show Teddy," he said, picking the page up and turning around to show the bear.

Teddy was gone.

"Where Teddy?" Max screamed, dropping the paper to the floor and pushing himself off the chair to search under the table, "TEDDY?!?"

\-----

The new boy's screaming and crying was beginning to make Felix's head hurt. 

The boy had followed him around a few times, but Felix wasn't sure why he wanted to be his friend so much - he didn't even know the boys name.  
"I need Teddy," the boy was shouting, punching and kicking at Mr Vergne who was trying to calm him down, "Find him now."

Felix glanced around the room, noticing that all the other children were watching the noisy new boy. All except Victoria who was now dressed in a tutu, happily having a tea party with her dolls and a bear that looked a lot like the boys.

"Victoria," he hissed, marching over to her table with his hands on his hips like Felipe did when he was cross, "Give the boy his teddy back."

Victoria glared back at him, pretending to drink a cup of tea before replying.

"Is my teddy," she said, "Found him myself."

"No is the boys teddy. I saw him with it."

Victoria scowled at Felix before smiling wickedly.

"OK. If you play tea party with me," she said, patting the chair beside her, "You can have the teddy for the stupid boy."

Felix glanced over at Mr Vergne, who had the boy on his knee trying to sooth him. The boy was red in the face, his eyes puffy from crying but he didn't look like he was going to stop any time soon. He'd rather not play with Victoria but if it stopped the boy crying then _maybe_ it would be worth it.

"Can I have a cake?" he said, flopping down into the chair beside Victoria with a pout on his face.

Victoria clapped her hands excitedly and jumped from her chair, rushing around the table and pushing one of the dolls to the floor so that she could use the plate and cups it had been using. She placed a plastic cake on the plate and placed it in front of Felix, grinning widely as she waited for him to eat it.

Felix picked the cake up, sniffing it and pretending to take a bite, all the time looking between the teddy, Victoria and the crying boy. He hoped the boys he had been playing with didn't notice that he was playing dolls now or they'd pick on him.

"You have to wear a dress," Victoria announced when he put the cake back on his plate, "Then you can be a proper girl at the tea party."

"No," Felix said, screwing up his face as Victoria pulled a princess costume out of the dress up box, "Not wearing a dress. I can be a boy at the tea party."

"Boys don't go to tea parties," Victoria said, pouting again, "I'll give you the teddy if you wear the dress."

Felix was about to say that wasn't the deal, when the boy began to scream louder. Mr Vergne picked the boy up and carried him into the book corner. There was a bit of a wall that separated the book corner from the main classroom and the crying was a little quieter. The other children all began to play again now that they could hear themselves.

"OK," Felix sighed, snatching the princess dress from Victoria and putting it over his head, sitting back on the chair and folding his arms angrily, "Can I have the teddy now."

"One more cup of tea, Princess," Victoria replied, pretending to pour another cup before kissing Felix on the cheek.

He rubbed the kiss away with the back of his hand, screwing up his face in disgust before pretending to drink all of the tea in one go.

"Give me the teddy," he said, trying to climb out of the dress and hearing some of the lace tear as he stomped on it, "You promised."

Victoria pouted but picked the teddy up from the chair and handed it to Felix.

"But I'll come with you to give it to the boy," Victoria said, grabbing Felix's hand before he could escape and pulling him, stumbling out of the dress, into the book corner.

Mr Vergne was sat in the far corner of the quiet area, the boy beside him on a bean bag. Tears still streamed down his face and he sobbed loudly as the teacher tried to sooth him.  
"Teddy can't have gone far, Max," he said, "I'm sure we'll find him."

"Mr Vergne," Victoria interrupted, "Felix has Max's teddy."

Mr Vergne turned around and Felix held the bear out with a nervous smile on his face. Max stopped crying suddenly, and a huge smile light up his face as he tried to push himself off the bean bag to reach the bear.

"Teddy!" he shouted, running as fast as his legs would carry him to wrap the bear in a hug, "Teddy!"

Max rubbed Teddy's fur against his face, drying the tears from his cheeks as he hugged the bear into his chest.

"Thank you for returning him, Felix," Mr Vergne said, "What do you say Max?"

Max glanced at the boy he recognised from the hole in the fence and the girl who was grinning widely at him. The girl was wearing a pretty pink tutu like the one he used to wear at the Orphanage.

"Fankoo," he said, his eyes still on the tutu as he stepped forward to touch it.

He felt the lace between his fingers, clutching Teddy with one hand and smiled, glancing up at the girl as he patted the Tutu. Victoria grinned back down at him and Felix looked a little confused.

"Do you like my Tutu?" Victoria said, spinning around so it rode up.

Max laughed, clapping his hands together before stepping forward to pat it again. 

"There is another one," Victoria said, "If you want to play with me."

Victoria held out her hand and Max took it, his beaming smile highlighted by puffy red cheeks. Felix stood with Mr Vergne and they both watched the pair head over to the dress up box, wearing confused expressions. At least Max had stopped crying, they both thought.  
"Can I play with the boys now?" Felix said, glancing up at Mr Vergne who nodded and followed him back into the classroom.

"OK," Victoria said, pulling a slightly ragged tutu from the box and handing it to Max, "You can be a fairy now. Put it on."

Max took the tutu from Victoria and dropped it onto the floor, carefully stepping into the hole that the elastic made and bending down to pull it up to his waist. He patted the lace that surrounded him, grinning up at Victoria.

"Now you need lipstick," Victoria decided, pulling a mushy stick from a basket of old make up and bending forward.

Max puckered his lips like Louisa used to do at the orphanage and waited for Victoria to paint his lips. She held out a mirror before him and he grinned, his face half covered in tear stained brown paint now with bright red lipstick around the mouth.

"Now you look pretty like me," Victoria said, "So we can have tea and cake."

Victoria pulled a seat out from around the table and indicated for Max to sit there. He carefully sat down, making sure the tutu was tucked under him neatly before he placed Teddy in the seat beside him. Victoria served tea and cakes for everyone surrounding the table - children, dolls and bears alike - before announcing that there would be _another_ tea party that afternoon.

"And you have to be a Princess," she stated, grinning at Max.

\-----

When Dan arrived at the end of the school day, Carlos clutching his hand, he was surprised to find that there were several other children still at the nursery with Max, and the toddler wasn't sat painting with Mr Vergne.

At first, Dan couldn't see Max and began to panic that another parent had taken him home, but then Carlos started giggling and pointing.

Max was sat with a girl who was obviously almost old enough to head up to the primary school. Teddy was sat beside him and the pout - that Dan had come to see as Max's trademark look - was firmly on the boys face, highlighted by a bright display of lipstick that spread across his cheeks and chin.  
"Hey Max," Dan said, trying not to laugh, "What's happening? Are you ready to go home?"

"Are you Max's Dad?" the girl asked, before Max could speak.

"Urm... Yes," Dan replied, not wanting to explain to the girl and confuse things.

"Would you like a cup of tea and a cake?" she said, "I'm Princess Victoria and _this_ is Princess Max and Princess Teddy and Princess Dolly," the girl said, pointing to the other occupants of the table, "Do you think we look pretty?"

Dan was about to open his mouth to reply when the girl shoved a cup and a cake into his hand and pulled a chair over to the table for him to sit at. She glanced at Carlos before deciding that he didn't need a chair - because he was an icky boy - and grinned up at Dan.  
"You... You all look... very nice," Dan said, smiling at Max who scowled at him, "And.. Thank you for the tea."

Dan quickly mimed drinking the tea and placed the cup on the table. Victoria beamed at him and Max looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

"I think you need a pretty dress too," Victoria said, standing up and looking through the dress up box again, "How about this?"

She turned around with a pink Princess dress, grinning widely. Dan took it from her hands, smiling uncertainly as he pulled it over his head, letting it hang down his arms half way to his waist.

"Now we all look pretty," Victoria announced, "Don't you think, Max?"  
Max looked at Dan and nodded his head. Dan could see from his eyes that the toddler didn't think anybody looked pretty, but he was at least making friends and Dan didn't want to prevent that.

"Shall we have more tea?" Victoria said, pouring cups for everybody.

Dan lifted the cup to his lips again, pretending to drink when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Carlos watching him. The five year old's eyes looked Dan up and down with an expression that said "What are you doing?" and Dan blushed, dropping the cup on the table and pulling dress over his head.

"Well," he began, slightly flustered, "We better be going. Are you going to take the dress of

f now and get ready to go home, Max?"  
Max almost jumped out of the dress, dropping it to the floor and running around to Dan and Carlos with Teddy clutched in his hand. He grabbed Carlos' hand with the other and started quickly towards the door, ignoring Mr Vergne who was shouting that he'd forgotten his painting.

Dan raced after them, catching the two boys just before they reached the door that led out into the playground. He pulled a wet wipe from his bag and bent down to wipe Max's face. The toddler scrunched his nose and closed his eyes as Dan removed the make up and paint and Carlos giggled.

"Looks like you had fun at nursery today then, Maxy?" Dan said as he lifted the boy into the car seat ready to head home, "Who was the nice girl you were playing with."

"Vistorlia," Max said, "But she made me pway tea party all day and I didn't like it. Just wanted a tutu too."


	7. There Has Been An Incident

After a week at school, the boys and their two father’s quickly settled into a rhythm and school days began to flow easily.

Dan stood outside the classroom waiting for the school day to end. He'd still not quite made it into the gang of mother's that regularly chatted and laughed with one another at the gates, but he had seen his neighbour Felipe a few times with his sons. The Brazilian was stood on the opposite side of the pathway and Dan waved over before being distracted by children spilling loudly out of the doorway.

They ran in all directions, shouting and hugging their parents, but Dan couldn't see Carlos among them. He scanned the crowd again but still saw no sign of the bushy brown hair and big eyes. Glancing over at Felipe, he saw that he was looking confusedly through the throng with no sign of his own children.

"Mr Ricciardo? Mr Massa

?"  
The man's voice, standing out above the noise of all the children, made him jump and when Dan turned around, he saw Mr Alonso, the teacher, looking serious and beckoning for them to follow him.

The two parents followed the teacher into the corridor outside the classrooms and there they found Carlos, sat at a chair with a small cup of orange juice on the table in front of him. He was hiccuping and his face was tearful.

"Carlos, what's wrong?" Dan said, immediately ducking down to his adoptive son with a worried expression.

Carlos sniffled and tears began streaming down his face again as he sobbed, wrapping his arms around Dan's neck and letting the Australian pick him up.

"There has been an incident," Mr Alonso said, "Mr Massa if you could come into the classroom with me, I will speak to you afterwards if that is OK Mr Ricciardo? I have informed the nursery that I need to speak with you and they are OK to watch Max until we are done."

Dan nodded, sitting himself on the floor and cuddling Carlos into his chest as his neighbour entered the classroom and the door was closed behind them.

 

It seemed like Dan and Carlos had been sat outside the classroom for hours when the Massa's finally emerged. Felipe looked angry and dragged his son

s past Dan and Carlos without acknowledging them before Mr Alonso appeared in the doorway and beckoned them in.  
Dan entered the classroom with Carlos in his arms and followed the bearded man towards the desk. He sat on a chair, placing Carlos on his knee and stroking the boys hair as he leaned into Dan's chest, sucking his thumb as he tried to breathe in through a snotty nose. Carlos hadn't spoken much outside the classroom, too upset to talk

, and Dan hadn't pressed him - he knew that the teacher would fill him in on whatever had happened.  
"There was an incident of bullying today," Mr Alonso started, "Involving Carlos and a few of the children in his class. Their parents have been informed, as you have seen, and it will be dealt with, but I wanted to speak with you in person as Carlos was

, unfortunately, the victim."  
"Felipe and Rob's kids?" Dan asked, gaping between the teacher and Carlos.

"Frankie Smedley was one of the children involved, yes," Mr Alonso replied, "Though I believe it is possibly lack of understand rather than intention to hurt Carlos."

Dan clutched Carlos tighter to his chest as he looked down at his adopted son.

"They thought I was naughty because my Mummy left me and I had to be adopted," Carlos sniffled, "They said that their Mummy's and Daddy's said they would leave them in the shop if they was naughty so that must be why I don't have a Mummy."

Carlos started crying loudly again and Dan kissed the top of his head gently and he rubbed the child's arm comfortingly.

"Carlos," Dan said, sadly, "I honestly don't know why your Mummy left you at the orphanage and maybe we'll never know, but you and Max have me and Dany now and we can be both of your parents. We're not going to leave you and we can be just as good as Mummy's, I'm sure."

Carlos looked up at Dan's, smiling through his tears before cuddling back into his chest again.

"I love you, Daddy and Mummy Dan," he whispered.

"I love you too, Carlos," Dan said, with a slightly embarrassed glance at Mr Alonso who was smiling patiently, "And when you're older, if you want to look for your real parents, we will help you."

"I just want to go home," Carlos replied, quietly.

"OK," Dan said, standing before realising that Mr Alonso might not have finished speaking with them and sitting down again quickly as though he might get told off, "Were you finished or was there more?"

"Nothing more, really," Mr Alonso replied, "I spoke to Mr Massa who understands and is going to speak with his children and make sure they understand. I have asked Frankie and his friends to apologise to Carlos. I'm sure it will all be OK and they'll be friends in no time."

Dan nodded, remembering how often he'd seen and heard the Massa-Smedley children fall out in the back garden only to be best friends again a few minutes later.

"Thank you for informing me," Dan said, placing Carlos on his feet and taking the five year olds hand, "See you tomorrow."

The pair walked to the classroom door in silence, ready to head to the nursery to collect Max. Dan wasn't sure what to say to Carlos, who was still sniffling and red faced from crying, but he suddenly let go of Dan's hand and ran back towards the desk, launching himself at the teacher and wrapping his arms around Mr Alonso's neck.

"Thank you Mr Alonso," he said, "You're the best teacher ever."

"You're welcome, Carlos," Mr Alonso smiled, prizing Carlos' arms from his neck, "Just promise me you will tell me if there is any trouble again, so we can sort it out quickly, yes?"

"Promise," Carlos replied, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Now you have better go with your Daddy to collect your brother, yes?" the teacher said, pushing him lightly in the direction of Dan.

\--

"Sorry we're late," Dan said as he rushed through the door, Carlos in his arms so they could make it to the nursery quicker.

"It's fine, no problem," Mr Vergne said, smiling and signalling over to the corner where Max was playing, "He barely even noticed you weren't here."

Dan glanced over at Max who was sat in the area that was normally filled with girls playing with dolls. He had several dresse

s scattered around him, and another in his hand as he tried to slide it onto teddy, who was already wearing a bonnet tied around his head.  
"Max," Mr Vergne called, "Look who is here."

Max glanced up, smiling at Dan and Carlos before turning back to teddy, the look of concentration returning to his face as he pulled the dress onto teddy and tried to align the velcro at the back.

"Are you ready to go home, Max?" Dan called, laughing, "I'm sure Teddy is ready for his dinner!"

Max looked up at the mention of food and pushed himself to his feet, before realising Teddy was still wearing the dress and sitting back down again to concentrate on taking it off.

"Teddy can keep the dress for tonight," Mr Vergne said, aware of how long they could be waiting and that Max would not accept help, "Just make sure it comes back with him tomorrow."

Max beamed, jumping back up to his feet and rushing over to Dan and Carlos. As he approached his brother, he noticed that Carlos looked sad and his face was red and wet like he'd been crying.

"What wong, Carlos?" Max said, taking his brothers hand and holding it tightly, "Why cwy?"

The two year old looked up at Dan, panic on his face before looking back at his older brother.

"Was just boys at school picking on me," Carlos said, sniffing again, "Because I don't have a Mummy."

"Oh," Max said sadly, "I don't have mummy too."

Both boys looked sadly at their feet for a few moments, before Max broke the silence with a deep excited breath.

"Teddy can be your Mummy, Carlos," he said, holding the bear in a dress and bonnet up in front of his brothers face

and grinning widely.  
Carlos laughed, his eyes lighting up in a way that Dan knew was genuine happiness and he took hold of one of Teddy's paws. Max took the other paw, and they held the bear between them, looking to Dan for permission to leave. Dan smiled down at them and held out his hand for Carlos to take.

"Say goodbye to Mr Vergne, then," Dan said, waiting for the boys to say farewell, "Thanks for looking after him again."

"It's no problem," Mr Vergne replied, "Can't say no to his little face."

Dan grinned, knowing exactly what the teacher meant, before leading his family and their new mother out of the classroom.

\----

Dany arrived home only a few minutes after Dan, Carlos and Max and could immediately tell that something was wrong. Carlos was sat on the sofa, cuddled up with Max watching children's TV shows, his homework bag abandoned on the floor. Max was clutching Teddy who was wearing a dolls dress, with a hat that was covering his face. Neither of the boys seemed as happy to see him as they normally would.

"What's up, boys?" he asked, sitting heavily on the opposite side of the sofa and beginning to pull of his boots.

"There was an incident," Dan shouted from the kitchen, where he was stirring the stew for tonight's dinner "At school."

"Oh dear," Dany muttered, climbing back to his feet and walking into the kitchen, "What happened?"

Dany glanced back at the boys. Standing in the doorway he could see them both watching the TV in silence, something that rarely happened since they'd come to the house.

"Well, Carlos had a bit of bother from some boys in his class," Dan said, "A misunderstanding really. Some bother about him not having a mother."

Dan paused while he added some salt to the pan before continuing. Dany look aghast, looking over at Carlos and wondering why children of five or six years old would ever dream of wanting to upset another child.

"Felipe's kid, Frankie was involved," Dan said.

"WHAT?" Dany shouted, anger filling him as Max and Carlos both jumped out of their skins.

The shout had frightened Max so much the toddler had leapt from the sofa and landed by the TV. He quickly crawled around the back of the stand and peeped around, eyes filled with tears as Carlos bunched himself up in a ball on the sofa, not wanting to be in trouble.

"I'm going round there," Dany said, stomping back into the lounge and shoving his feet into his shoes, bending over angrily to tie his laces, "How dare they bully my children."

Dany marched out of the room and shut the door behind him. Carlos relaxed, turning back to the TV as Max crept slowly out of his hiding spot and glanced at Carlos to see if it was OK to come out. 

Max was about to get to his feet and join Carlos on the sofa again when the lounge door burst open and Dany walked back in.

"We have a visitor."


	8. In the Playground

Carlos clutched onto Mr Alonso's hand as they wandered around the playground during break time. None of the children in his class had spoke to him much that morning and when he'd run out of the cloakroom at play time he hadn't seen anyone he'd like to play with beside his teacher.

"Frankie's Daddy came to visit last night," Carlos said as he watched a group of boys playing football together on the opposite side on the playground, "To speak to Daddy Dan and Daddy Dany."

"Did he?" Mr Alonso replied, "What did he say?"

The teacher knew that the children were neighbours and had expected that Mr Massa and Mr Smedley would chat with their son and perhaps send Frankie around to talk to Carlos, but he hadn't expected that the parents would do the talking.

"I don't know," Carlos pouted, looking at his feet, "I had to take Max upstairs to play. Nobody seemed angry when we were allowed back down though, so I think everything is OK now."

"I see," Mr Alonso replied.

The teacher opened his mouth to continue but a small voice interrupted him.

"Carlos," Frankie said, walking a few steps beside the child and looking very nervous, "I'm sorry I said the nasty things yesterday. I didn't know what they meant really. The older boys said them and I just copied. It was bad of me."

Frankie looked up at Mr Alonso before looking back at Carlos, his expression hopeful.

"S'OK," Carlos answered, still clutching his teachers hand as his trademark smile began to spread across his face again, "I forgive you."

"Friends?" Frankie asked, holding out his hand to Carlos.

Carlos let go of Mr Alonso's hand, took Frankie's hand and shook it.

"Friends."

Frankie grinned back, smiling at his teacher as relief flooded his face.

"Wanna play?" Frankie asked, holding out the ball he'd brought with him.

"Yea!" Carlos cried, dragging Mr Alonso towards his new friend, "I could teach you a game I used to play with Max at the orphanage. You could play too, Mr Alonso."

The teacher looked shocked, but nodded, resigning himself to playing another ball game with his pupils.

"So how do we play?" Mr Alonso asked, bending down so that he was a similar height to Carlos and Frankie.

"Do you play rounders?" Carlos asked, looking between his teacher and his neighbour.

"Yes," Frankie and Mr Alonso replied in unison.

"And football?"

"Yes."

"Well it's like rounders but instead of hitting the ball with a bat, you kick the ball like in football."

Carlos beamed and took the ball from Frankie's hands and passed it to Mr Alonso.

"Mr Alonso can bowl. I'll be a fielder and you can be the first kicker. You have to run round the square to get a rounder," Carlos said, excitedly pointing out the square that was painted onto the tarmac before running off to get ready to catch the ball.

 

Before long, half of Mr Alonso's class were lined up to take a kick or running around the square ready to catch the ball. He began to feel a little like he was taking an extra PE class, but he was glad that Carlos had started the game and the other children were playing with him.

"Frankie," Mr Alonso called, "How about you bowl now. I am supposed to be supervising the playground, really."

The teacher smiled at the pupil who pouted as he left the queue for his next kick, but took the ball and began bowling. Mr Alonso wandered away from the area of the game and started walking around the playground, checking that all the children were still there and none were hurt.

He watched the game continue out of the corner of his eye, but was happy to see that Carlos' instructions to his team were being listened to and that more children seemed to be joining in.

 

"Yes!" Carlos shouted as one of his team mates touched the ball to a corner of the square just before another pupil managed to complete his rounder.

None of the kids knew what the score was but nearly everyone had joined in now and they were having a lot of fun. Frankie had even hugged Carlos when he had managed to catch one of the kickers out.

"Oi," a shout broke through the cheers of the fielders and some older boys pushed some of Carlos' class mates out of the way as they marched towards him, "You're taking up all the playground. You'll have to stop playing."

"We're not," Carlos replied quietly, "Only this square and where we're fielding."

"The games stupid anyway," another older boy said, smirking at his friends.

"Shut up," Frankie said, scowling, "It's fun. We like it."

"Thought you didn't like him anyway," the first older boy said to Frankie as he pointed at Carlos, "Coz he's _adopted_."

Frankie flushed bright red and stared at his feet, not daring to say anything as the older boys all laughed. Some of the pupils that had been playing kick ball rounders started to disperse, quickly playing other games in another section of the playground.

"This game _is_ stupid," the boy continued, "It's for babies who don't have Mums and Dads because they don't love them."

Carlos' eyes filled with tears as Frankie looked back at him. The older boys laughed more as they noticed and Frankie's eyes flashed with anger before his hand swooped out and collided with the boys nose, making a loud crunching sound.

Blood began to drip from the older boys nose, and his friends rushed over to Mr Alonso.

"Mr Alonso," they shouted, "Carlos just punched Jack."

"Right in the face!"

"He's bleeding everywhere. He's going to die!"

Mr Alonso raced over, ushering the boy and his friends towards the doors and in the direction of the school medic.

"Frankie," he shouted, his angry teacher voice blaring across the playground, "You had better come with me."

\-----

That evening, Dan stood with the other parents waiting for the class to be dismissed. He glanced around for his neighbour Felipe, who had visited the night before to apologise on behalf of Frankie, but he was nowhere in sight.

When the bell finally rang, Dan waited for the usual stream of children to rush from the classroom, followed by Mr Alonso and Carlos who was chatting away happily.

As the boy approached, he let go of his teachers hand and hugged Dan, not pausing for breath until Dan interrupted.

"Did everything go OK today?" he asked, concerned that there may have been more bullying.

"Me and Mr Alonso and Frankie all played kick ball rounders and then everyone joined in," Carlos said, excitedly, "And I think we were winning and we got some of the older boys out because we were good at it."

Dan had no idea what Carlos was talking about but nodded and grinned, mainly just happy that his son was smiling again.

"There was a bit of an incident," Mr Alonso said with a solemn look on his face, "It sounds as though some of the older boys were trying to ruin the game and said some things to Carlos."

"But Frankie punched him in the face and he bleeded everywhere," Carlos said, grinning and bouncing on his heels as he held onto Dan's hand.

Dan had to stop himself from laughing as he looked back at the teacher.

"Is the boy OK?" he asked, forcing the smile that was trying to break onto his face back.

"He'll be fine," Mr Alonso replied, "But Frankie was sent home by the head teacher. He won't be allowed back until next week."

"But then we can be friends, he said," Carlos butted in, "Can we go to Max now because he will be waiting and the quicker we go home the quicker it will be next week when me and Frankie can be friends again."

Dan rolled his eyes, smiling at Mr Alonso as Carlos began to tug him towards the path that led to the nursery.

"See you tomorrow, Mr Alonso," shouted Carlos.

 

When they arrived at the nursery, Max was sat in the cloakroom with his coat and boots on, teddy clutched in one hand and some more paintings in the other. He held the paintings out for Dan to carry and gripped Carlos' hand as they walked back to the car.

"And then everyone was playing kick ball rounders with us and Frankie, who is my best friend now, was bowling and he can catch really good because he catched loads of people out and some of the boys can run fast but we still got them out," Carlos blabbered to Dan, as he climbed into the car, "But then..."

"No!" Max shouted, interrupting Carlos' speech and glaring at his adopted brother, "No!"

"What?" Carlos asked, shocked at the two year old's outburst.

"Our game," Max said, folding his arms and pouting in the tell-tale way that led to a sulk, "Just for us, you said at the orphalidge."

"We can still play it, Maxy," Carlos said, the happiness in his eyes wavering, "We can play tonight."

"No," Max said, his bottom lip quivering, "You no best fwend now. You said Fankey best fwend."

Max's eyes filled with tears and Dan quietly turning the key in the ignition wondering how he was going to get the two boys to be friends again.

"Who wants fish fingers for dinner?" he asked, grinning as he turned to face his adopted son.

"Yay!" Carlos shrieked, clapping his hands as his eyes lit up again.

Dan could see that Max was just as excited, despite trying hard not to seem it.

"Teddy would like some, please," Max said politely, before pouting at Carlos and turning to look out of the window again.


	9. Invitations and Unexpected Arrivals

They had come to an agreement - if it could really be called that when the main decision was based on approval from a two year old and a five year old who were seemingly eager to please their new parents.

Since Carlos and Max were both born in September, one at the beginning of the month and the other at the end, they would have one big celebration in the middle of the month instead of two separate ones. The plans were already made - a huge garden party and barbeque - and all that was left were the invitations.

"I will invite Frankie too," Carlos said, sliding another invitation in front of him and preparing to write the name at the top.

"Are you sure?" Dan asked, "I know you're inviting the whole class, but..."

"We're friends now," Carlos replied, sticking his tongue out the side of the corner of his mouth as he started to draw an 'F', "How do you spell it?"

Dan slid a sheet of paper that he had written everyone's names onto for Carlos to copy. He quickly added 'Frankie' to the list and placed it in front of the child.

"What about you Max," Dan said, "Who do you want to ask?"

Max was sat beside Carlos, pouting as he watched his older brother write down the names of his friends. Dan had said he wasn't allowed a pen in case he made mess but he _was_ allowed to lick the envelopes that Dany held up for him.

"Teddy," Max said, as though it was obvious.

"What about your friends?" Dan asked.

"No just Teddy," Max said.

"Not even your friends from nursery?" Dan said, knowing that the invites were already written anyway, "Won't they be sad if you have a party and don't invite them."

Max thought for a moment, looking down at Teddy and then the pile of invites that Carlos had written to his friends.

"OK, my fwends come too."

"Can Mr Alonso come?" Carlos asked, sliding Frankie's invite towards Dany who was folding the sheets and putting them in envelopes, "I think he's my best friend at school."

Max pouted slightly. He was Carlos' brother now but he was his best friend too and Carlos hadn't invited him yet.

"And me?" Max said quietly.

"Max silly, it's your party too," Dan laughed, "Of course your invited."

"I'm not sure that inviting your teacher is a good idea, Carlos," Dany said, holding the envelope with Frankie's invite in for Max to lick, "I don't think he would want to come. It's for your friends to come and play."

"But Mr Alonso likes to play with us," Carlos protested, "I'm going to invite him anyway."

He slid another invite onto the table in front of him and wrote 'Mr' before stopping and furrowing his brow. Dan rolled his eyes and wrote 'Alonso' onto the sheet of names for him to copy - hoping that the teacher would have the sense to be nice when he declined the invite.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted Carlos midway through writing his teachers name and Dany and Dan looked at one another wondering who it could be.

"I get it," Max said, trying to shuffle off the chair.

Dany helped him down and followed the toddler to the front door, pushing the handle down and opening it slightly to allow Max to pull it open and beam at their unexpected visitor.

"Hey Max," the visitor said, "How are you doing?"

Max's face dropped and he ran to hide behind Dany's legs. 

"Hi Christian," Dany said, "We weren't expecting you. Come in."

Dany signalled for Christian to head into the lounge and followed after him, walking crookedly as Max still clung to his jeans. Christian sat himself on the sofa, glancing around at the toys and books that were scattered across the floor. Dany made a mental note to try and tidy up after their sons in the future before peeking his head into the kitchen.

"Christian has come to visit," he said, widening his eyes to signal for Dan and Carlos to come into the lounge.

Once everyone was settled, Carlos on Dan's lap and Max trying to sneak slowly behind the TV stand, Christian spoke.

"I'm just here to see how things are," he said, "Just to check everything is OK and that you don't have any problems."

He smiled, taking a sip of tea and placing the mug on the coffee table.

Dan opened his mouth to reply but Carlos beat him to it.

"This is the best place," Carlos said, beaming, "We have toys and beds and school and Mr Alonso and toys and Daddy Dan and Daddy Dany are my favourites."

Christian smiled at him before turning to Max.

"And you like it here too, Max?" he asked.

Max nodded, crawling backwards in an attempt at hiding behind the TV stand, but hitting the wall.

"Teddy too," he said quietly, before shuffling quickly out of view.

Christian glanced across at Dan and raised an eyebrow.

"He likes to hide there when he's nervous," Dan explained, lifting Carlos from his lap and peeping around the TV, "Are you OK, Max?"

The toddler looked up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes and his bottom lip began to tremble. Dan reached down and picked him up, holding him against his chest and kissing him on the forehead.

"No want," Max said between sobs, "No want go back to orfalidge."

Christian's face dropped as he realised what Max must think with his arrival. He had mainly popped in because he missed the kids and he was sure that they would be happy here - seeing Max cry at the thought of going back to the orphanage was heartbreaking and a joyful at the same time.

"I'm not here to take you back, Max," Christian said, smiling as he stood and tickled the toddler under the chin, "I came to make sure Mr and Mr Ricciardo-Kvyat were spoiling you rotten."

"They are!" Carlos shouted, jumping up from the sofa and beaming, "I'll show you. Come on."

Carlos raced out of the room and they heard him thunder up the staircase. Christian excused himself, following the five year old up the stairs to find him grinning outside a bedroom with a small plaque that read 'Carlos' Room'.

"I'll give you the tour," Carlos said, pushing the door open.

\-----

Max was still sniffling as Dan peaked his head up the stairs and heard Carlos explaining how his lego racer worked. They'd been upstairs a while and Dan wondered what Christian might be asking Carlos and whether the boy might be getting them into trouble. The youngsters tour had given them time to convince Max that he was safe here and would never go back to the orphanage.

"Are you OK now, Max?" Dany asked, sitting on the floor beside the toddler, "Shall we show Christian your room?"

"No," Max replied, "I know."

Max pushed himself up from the floor, clutching his teddy in his fist as he waddled out of the room, turning back to make sure that Dany was following before he entered the kitchen. 

He stopped in front of the fridge and pointed up. The fridge door was covered with Max's drawings from nursery - most of them were just scribbles but some had titles written underneath by the teacher.

"Give pitchures to Cistian," Max said, "For orflelidge, pwease."

"That would be nice, Max," Dany said, smiling down at him as he pulled the pictures free from the magnets.

He took the toddlers hand and guided him back into the lounge to find Christian and Carlos had returned. Dany gave Max the pictures and nodded for him to talk to Christian.

"Pitchures for ornaphidge," Max said shyly, holding the sheets of paper out to Christian.

Christian took them from him, smiling as he flicked through them.

"Did you draw these all by yourself?" he asked.

Max grinned embarrassedly and hid behind his teddy as he nodded, giggling.

"And is this one you, Carlos, Dan, Dany and your new house?" he asked.

"And Teddy," Max said, waddling forward to point out Teddy in the picture.

"Oh," Dan said, glancing across at Dany nervously, before edging nearer to Christian, "Actually... Could we keep that one. It was... His first drawing from nursery."

Secretly, Dan didn't want Christian or the orphanage to have any of Max's drawings, but the fridge was getting quite full and he was sure Max would draw plenty more in the future. The family portrait was his favourite though, he'd never forgive himself if he let Christian take it.

"Of course," Christian smiled, handing it to Dan, "Our little artists first piece is a special one!"

Max grinned again and Dan sighed with relief.

"Mr... Christian," Carlos said, "You know I was telling you about Mr Alonso teached me to write?"

"Yes," Christian said slowly, "I know _all_ about Mr Alonso now."

Dan and Dany grinned sheepishly, wondering where Carlos' story was going.

"Well I can write names now," Carlos said, "How do you spell yours?"

Christian waited for Carlos to kneel beside the coffee table and place his pen above the sheet of paper before starting to spell.

"C-H-R-," he said, waiting for Carlos to finish each letter before saying the next, "I-S-T-I-A-N."

Carlos finished the name with a poke of his pen for a full stop before beaming at his handy work and passing the paper to Christian.

"Now you're invited to the party too," he said, grinning, "Are you going to come?"


End file.
